Massacre

If surrounding a stadium and firing upon peaceful pro-democracy protesters until you run out of bullets, then proceeding to rape and murder women is considered successful, then Guinea’s Presidential Guard receives an A+. Human Rights Watch reports that on September 28, the Presidential Guard, along with gendarmes, killed 150 protesters inside a stadium where they had been protesting the military coup that took place on december 22, 2008. After trapping the protesters inside the stadium, the Presidential Guard shot at them until they emptied their AK-47 clips. There were also reports of sexual violence against women; in some cases women died as a result of the rapes.

One witness said he could hear a soldier saying that “we’ve come to clean!” in reference to killing as many people there as possible, while another described how he could see “bodies everywhere.”

Human Rights Watch has concluded that based on evidence, “the massacre and widespread rape were organized and premeditated.” Not only that, there is evidence that the government tried to cover up the massacre by reporting fewer casualties than the actual count.

The international community needs to put pressure on the Guinea government to conduct an independent investigation in order to prosecute immediately those involved in these horrific acts, or anyone who is involved in the cover up.